Members of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) are demanding increases in wages and night shift allowances, among other demands.
FILE: Sactwu members on strike. Picture: @SACTWU/Twitter
CAPE TOWN – Workers in the carpets sector are gearing up for a national strike.
Members of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) are demanding increases in wages and night shift allowances, among other demands.
The union’s Fachmy Abrahams said that it was representing hundreds of employees from six different companies. He said that the employer wanted a deduction in wages and did not want to pay increases and annual bonuses.
Abrahams said that they have had a number of negotiation meetings since June, however, neither party had come to an agreement.
“Our initial proposal, for example, was an increase of 12% in the wages, an improvement in the annual bonus, an improvement in the sovereign fund contributions, an increase in the night shift allowance. Contract workers in our industry are often abused and we said that they should be made permanent after three months.”
He said that they had gone through the balloting process and members have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike.
“We’ve now advised the commissioner that we’ve balloted the members and he must now issue a certificate. We have finalised the picketing rules and once the certificate is issued, we must give the employer 48 hours notice of the strike.”